Titanic Tale
by thestoryteller17
Summary: Sean and Liz hate each other. They always have and thought they always would, but will an accidental trip on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic change that? in honor of the 100th anniversary of the sinking somewhat movie verse but not really.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was just and average day in May, nothing particularly special about it. Accept that this day was going to change my life forever. So I suppose the day wasn't average after all. I was sitting in history class, listening to my history teacher drone on and on about turn of the century politics in France, when all of the sudden he interjected with:

"Okay kids in order for you to gain a better understanding of the early 20th century I want you to choose an event that occurred from 1900-1930 and do a presentation about it, but I don't just want you to cover the event, I want you to cover how it made people feel. I want you to get to the depth of peoples thoughts and feelings. You will be partnered up and I will choose the pairs. Listen up! Cory and Matthew, Taylor and Connor, Elizabeth and Sean…" Sean. Seriously?. Sean's probably the least motivated most self-centered person on the entire planet. He's also good looking which doesn't help. He's got this straight messy blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes, which the other girls swoon over, but I just imagine him rolling them at me and they become less attractive instantly. Man this sucks! "Also Elizabeth and Sean you two will be presenting first on Friday the twentieth. Get with your partners and start deciding what you want to do, keeping in mind you can't all do the same event so choose quickly." Sean saunters over to me like he has all the time in the world. Did I mention that he thinks he's a god? Well he does, another rather annoying quality.

"So I was thinking…" he purred.

"Well that's surprising" I interrupt.

"I was _think_ing." Says Sean completely unfazed by my last comment.

"That we should do the Titanic. Its pretty easy since James Cameron made a movie about it so we can probably just watch it and get most of the information from there. I'm gonna go tell Mr. Baker."

"Wait! Sean I didn't agree…. To…. That." I fade off. He doesn't hear me, however, and goes to tell Mr. Baker anyway. I've always liked Titanic and I was going to suggest it myself, but it really bugged me that he didn't even listen to my response before he went to Mr. Baker. That just proves how selfish he is.

"Hey Earth to Liz."

"What!" I yell mostly out of irritation but also surprise that he remembered to call me Liz. Only people who know me remember to do that and he barely knows me.

"Can you work after school today? I've got baseball practice the rest of the week and I'd like to get this done as quickly as possible."

I wanted to tell him that yes, I do have plans after school today, and no, I don't want to work on the project, ever, but instead I say:

"Sure, fine, in the library, after school, until we finish okay?"

"Sounds good to me. The sooner I can get away from you the better."

"You don't have to be such a jerk you know. I've been nothing but nice to you and all you do is say things like that."

"Actually yea I do."

"I hate to interrupt this fascinating, and I'm sure very relevant, conversation but I'm afraid the bell has wrung." Says Mr. Baker.

"Shit! I'm gonna be late to Chem." I yell. You see what he does to me. I never swear, but five minutes into a conversation with him and I'm swearing like a Somali Sailor.

"See you after school." Says Sean as he saunters out of the classroom.

"Yea sure." I mutter. On my way out of history I spot my best friend Sam Rooney. He's waiting for me, and his whole face lights up as I smile and join him.

"So how was history." Says my brown haired blue-eyed best friend.

"Fascinating, how was French?"

"Tres Magnifique. Are you okay? You sound a little irritated."

"That's because I am. Mr. Baker paired me up with Sean Fentress for a project."

"Oh, I'm sorry, that's terrible."

"Yea it is. Oh and by the way I can't hang out after school. He practically forced me to meet up with him for the project and if I don't show he'll hate me even more than he already does."

"But Liz you promised! I've been waiting for weeks to see the Hunger Games movie with you and now your cancelling again."

"I'm sorry, believe me if it was my choice I'd be going with you, but I need to get this done. Sean and I both agreed it would be better to finish sooner so we don't have to spend too much time together. Besides, it'll give you the chance to ask that guy out you've been talking about so much lately." I assert. Sam just recently came out to me and I've been encouraging him to ask out this guy he likes that he met at GSA. He hasn't been able to tell his parents yet, but I'm hoping that if everything works out with this guy he might be able to tell them.

"Well, in that case, I suppose I can let you go. But don't stay too late. You practically live at that library when you're working on something and I need someone to gush to later."

I laugh. "Understood, I'll call you when I'm finished. If I'm still alive afterwards." If only I knew how ironic that statement was then. I round the last corner before I'm inside the chemistry lab and leave Sam possibly for the last time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I was wondering if you were going to show up." Says Sean with an air of bitterness.

"The bell rang like five minutes ago, Sean."

"Right, I knew that, I just thought you geeks were supposed to be freakishly punctual or something."

"First of all, I am _not _a geek, and second of all, we should probably stop insulting each other. This will be a lot easier if we don't want to kill each other by the end of the night."

"Fine, lets just get started, I have a date at 11."

"You disgust me."

"If disgust means the same thing as lust after than yes, you do."

"Newsflash, not everyone is in love with you Sean."

"Shut up!"

"No you shut up."

"Be quiet! This is a library not a sports arena. If you keep shouting I'll have to ask you to leave." Says the librarian who I didn't even notice came up behind us in the middle of all the shouting. She leaves and I whisper:

"Now look what you did. Three and a half years in this library and she's never told me to be quiet until today."

"Ya, well, maybe you spend too much time in here."

"Sooo not the point."

"Can we just start, please, I found some old books in the back of the library. This one has diagrams and this other one, I'm not really sure what it is, but it says Titanic on it and it has a lot of old writing in it."

"Alright, hand it over, I'll see what I can decipher from it." His hand is still on the book and as both our hands make contact with the old leather bound cover the whole room starts to fade away and everything turns white.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The first thing I notice is the smell. It smells like a combination of horse manure, a large crowd of people, and the salty brine of a nearby ocean. Next I notice the sound of a horn. Not a horn like a cars, but like how you would imagine a huge steamships horn would sound. I open my eyes to find my world completely changed. We are not in the library any more. When I attempt to drag out a giant breath I realize that this is a seriously difficult feat. There's something digging into my ribs, and when I realize what it is I want to gag but that is difficult as well. A corset? What am I doing wearing a corset? The last time I checked those things went out of style at least a century ago and that's when I discover what I'm wearing. My outfit resembles clothing I've only seen in history books and have always been dying to wear. I'm bathed in a pint-striped white traveling suit and a pink hat with a matching parasol that makes me feel like I'm hanging out with Jonny Depp and Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean, which I know is not true because the air surrounding me is wet but definitely not tropical. This is when I realize I'm probably not here alone. But before my mind can utter another thought, Sean Fentress approaches me wearing a suit that can only be described as elegant. The suit is cut so that it fits his frame perfectly and leaves little the imagination. Its similar to what movie stars most likely wore back in the 1920's. I'm left completely speechless so Sean speaks first, but not before he admires my new look as well.

"Liz? What did you do!" and the effect is gone

"What did I do? What did you do!"

"One minute we're in the Library working and the next we're here. Where exactly is here? Where are we?"

"I've been trying to figure that out for the last thirty seconds, Sean, would you let me think?" I clench my fists in frustration and hear the sound of crackling paper. I open my fists to examine said paper and also admire the most beautiful pair of white lace gloves I've ever seen. The Paper reads:

_Permission Granted to Come Aboard White Star Line's_

_R.M.S Titanic_

_Ismay, Imarie and CO._

_34, Leadenhall Street, London,_

_and_

_10, Water Street, Liverpool_

The awful truth dawns on both Sean and I in the exact same moment.

"You mean we're on…" mutters Sean. I don't answer him instead I grab his hand and start running somewhere, anywhere to get away from here. But I loose my breath and have to stop somewhere between panic and complete catatonia.

"From your comment I know you know where we are."

"Yes."

"So you know we have to get off as soon as possible."

"Yes, which is why I'm wondering why you stopped."

"It's this damn corset. I can't breathe with it on."

"Here, take my arm, is that better?" He asks me this question with genuine concern. The concern is gone, however, when he says:

"Come on Liz we have to move!" Somehow between the two of us we manage to get all the way down to what appears to be the exit with little difficulty, but unfortunately when we get there, a man stops us with an open hand.

"Sorry folks Titanic is preparing to leave and I can't open these doors, did you need something from the port?"

"Yes, my wife left her wedding ring in the hotel we stayed in last night. We need to get off. That ring was my mothers'." I have no idea where Sean came up with that but before I can formulate a response the man answers:

"I'm sorry Sir, as of five minutes ago, Titanic stops for no man or beast until we reach New York. Do you need help finding your room?"

"No thank you. We can figure it out on our own."

"Very good Sir." Says the man while Sean grabs my hand and leads me down what I assume is the hallway to our room but ends up being just a tiny broom closet which he shoves me into and closes the door behind us.

"Wife, really, that's what you came up with?"

"That entire conversation and all you remember is that I called you my wife."

"Sorry, not helpful, continue."  
"What do we...how do we...what happened."  
"I don't know. This doesn't make any sense. People don't just travel back in time. Do you think we're dreaming?"  
"We can't both be having the same dream Liz."  
"Right cuz u know so much about dream theory."  
"You think I'm really stupid don't you?"  
"Well you haven't exactly proven to be a gem in the past."  
"What does that even mean?"  
"That's what I mean!"  
"Okay we both need to shut up and try and figure out what happened to us."  
"You're right okay what is the last thing you remember doing before this happened."  
"We were getting ready to start researching and I handed you that old journal and then...oh no! The journal!"  
"Where is it? Do you still have it?"  
"I don't know." he checked his pockets and pulled out the old leather journal.  
"Thank god!" I sigh.  
"I second that." he answered.  
He then proceeded to open the journal up to a random blank page, and then flipped through it to find the entire journal was blank.  
"There was definitely writing there before."  
"I know, I saw it too."  
"What do you think this means?  
"I think it means that if we really are, well, on Titanic, the only way to get back is to figure out what happened to the person who wrote this journal."  
"How are we supposed to figure that out! There's got to be at least a million people on this thing."  
"Calm down, it's just a theory, and there were actually only 3,000 people that traveled on Titanic."  
"Does it really matter? What are we going to do next?"  
"Well I think the first move is getting out of this closet."  
"Right, well, after you." says Sean as he opens the door for me.  
"Thank you, good Sir." I laugh while stepping out. It seems appropriate, given where we are, and Sean doesn't make fun of me for it. We come out of the closet (no pun intended) to the main entryway, which is where Sean was yelling at the guy about getting off, start heading up an unremarkable stair case to find an exquisite First Class passenger lounge. The history books weren't lying when they said Titanic was the ship of dreams. The lounge before me could only ever exist in a dream world. The place was intricately detailed down to the very last crevice. It was as if Michelangelo himself had slaved over the sculpted moldings and the paintings adorning the walls. The rugs that covered the floors must have come from the king of Persia himself because no one else could have owned Persian rugs like these. I can see Sean is equally impressed but because he's a guy, he doesn't let on.

"Come on." He says taking my hand. I barely get a chance to protest before we're out on the deck. You can look at all the facts and figures in the world but nothing could compare to actually seeing Titanic in person. This ship is huge, and not only that it's beautiful and elegant. Out on the deck we can see practically the entire ship and the majority of the people on it. We can also see ocean for miles and the slowly fading green outline of the Irish coast. I've never seen anything like it.

"882 feet 6 inches long." I look at Sean questioningly. "I saw that fact in a book once but I didn't believe it till now." Answers Sean.

"How did you remember that?"

"I remember a lot of things." He says suggestively. I'm puzzled by this statement, and the way he says it. What's the matter with him? What's the matter with me? This boy has annoyed me almost my entire life and now here we are, stuck with each other and somehow this doesn't utterly repulse me, or him. I try to remember an instance when I knew or thought I knew that we could never be friends, but I couldn't. As far as I can remember Sean Fentress has never done anything to prove that we couldn't be friends. Maybe I should just give in. There's no way we're going to get out of this alive if we can't stop arguing. Fine we can be friends, if only until this little adventure is over. So I ask:,

"Sean, why aren't we friends?"

"Huh?" he mumbles.

"Why aren't we friends?"

"I don't honestly know." He says. "Maybe if we had a real conversation without arguing we could be friends."

"Okay, well, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. You're the one who suggested we should be friends."

"I never suggested it, I just asked why aren't we friends?"

"We're arguing again."

"Oh, right, I didn't even realize."

He swallows then says, "Maybe we're not meant to be friends."

"If that's true, the universe has a cruel sense of humor." I say in reference to our situation. He laughs and then we both start laughing, at the top of our lungs, to the point where the people around us start to point and stare.

"Okay, we can try. Being friends I mean." He says once we both regain our senses. "Because you're right. For whatever reason we're both here and we may as well make the best of it."

"Okay so friends."

"Friends."

"Good. Okay so now that we're friends, and now that we know that this is real. We need to figure out a plan, Sean. If we don't get off this ship before April 14 we're dead."

"I know, so we're sure that it was the journal, that got us here?"

"I'm not sure of anything, but it's the best lead we have so we should probably just go with it."

"Do you remember anything that was in it?"

"Well I vaguely remember..." A trumpet blares and cuts me off before I can finish my sentence. It's the warning that dinner is an hour away and apparently it also means that we have to change because the clothes that we are wearing now aren't good enough for a dinner in the first class.

"We'll finish this conversation later." I say while we are ushered into the lounge and shown to our room.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When I say room I mean Suite. This place is at least as big as the first floor of my house and far more luxurious. It has a sitting room, complete with Victorian era furnishings and what I'm pretty sure are original Monet paintings. A fireplace, which, our personal butler informs us, is lit every night to keep our Suite warm. On each side of the living room there are double doors that lead to two separate bedrooms (this is a complete relief because Sean and I are supposed to be married here so I thought that maybe we would be forced to share a bed. Thankfully in this century husbands and wives always had separate bedrooms because this was the proper way to do things.) Each bedroom is larger than most hotel rooms that I've stayed in with a queen sized, four poster bed, a bathroom with the most expensive looking bathtub I've ever seen, and a closet full of dresses that I could only ever dream of at home. Our suite also includes an enclosed balcony with a table and chairs, which we can use "at our leisure." Our butler then informs us that I have a ladies maid and Sean has a Valet that will arrive at 6:00 to dress us for dinner, because apparently we can't dress ourselves and, "if there is anything else you may require, you need only pull the string that hangs by the door of each of your bedrooms and a servant will arrive as soon as possible." And with that he leaves us alone. We both slump on the couches across from each other and sigh.

"Well I could get used to this." Says Sean.

"Ditto." I agree. "But about what I was saying before we came down here, about the journal. I thought I saw the initials EM at the bottom of the first page."

"I think I saw that too." He agreed. "Here let me get the journal out. Maybe something changed." Sean pulled the journal out of his pocket and flipped through it a second time.

"Anything?"

"Nope."

"Okay well I guess that's all we can do tonight. Maybe we'll meet an EM at dinner."

"Maybe." Says Sean. Though he doesn't sound all that hopeful. Before we can continue the discussion further, though, we are interrupted by our ladies maid and valet who have come to dress us for dinner. They lead us into our rooms and I'm whisked into my closet. I am forced into a corset, which the maid pulls much tighter than my original corset, and I choose an elegant black and pink chiffon dress with intricate beading that could only be hand made. Women in this time period had an amazing fashion sense. I could never wear anything like this at home. Partly because I can't afford it and partly because I'm not one of those girls who really cares about what she wears. Its not that I don't care, its just that its not, in my opinion, the best use of time or money. If people thought less about their clothing choices and more about the issues facing the world, it would be a much better place. Regardless, though, I don't think I've ever looked better, minus the fact that I can't breathe. The same goes for Sean. We exit our bedrooms after an hour or so of poking and prodding by our servants and I am astounded by the transformation in Sean. Gone are the basketball shorts and loose fitting t-shirts. In their place is the most elegant suit I have ever seen, even more so than the one he was wearing before if that's possible. It forms to the contours of his body so that his muscles are visible but not overwhelmingly so. Sean would never wear anything like it at home, which adds to the overall appeal. We're both so caught up in staring at each other that we barely hear Sean's valet say:

"My lord, dinner is to be served in ten minutes."

"Right." Says Sean. I might be mistaken but it sounded like he squeaked a little. "Lets get going shall we." He offers me his arm and I take it. I'm impressed. How did he even know to do that? As if he could read my mind he says:

"I've watched enough Downton Abbey I just figured that's what they did then." I shoot him a puzzled look.

"My sisters obsessed and she makes me watch it with her. It's actually pretty good."

"I know. Its one of my favorite shows." I say.

"Why does that not surprise me." He smiles as he leads me into the dinning room. Once again Titanic astounds us both. This is not some college dinning hall or school cafeteria. It's not even a classy restaurant. It is class itself, and like most things on this ship, it's unbelievable. We observe the beautiful china and fine lace tablecloths both wondering if this is really all for us, when we are interrupted by a server who says:

"Mr. and Mrs. Fentress your presence is required at that table over there." We turn and walk to the table the server points us to, completely unsure of what to expect, and when we arrive we are welcomed with open arms.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fentress we have heard so much about you. I am Sarah Mcgovern and this is my husband Liam." Says an impeccably dressed woman to the right of me. This sounds a little strange considering we're not supposed to exist in this century, but instead of letting it throw me off I say:

"Pleasure to meet you. May we have a seat."

"Yes please." Says Sarah. "Take a seat. Now Mr. and Mrs. Fentress why did you decide to travel on Titanic?" Sean and I both look at each other with complete panic in our eyes. We didn't prepare for this, and we can't exactly answer her honestly. But one of us needs to answer her and before I can Sean interjects with:

"This is our honeymoon." Sean pulls on his collar nervously.

"Ah I see, and when did you get married?"

"Just last night actually. We're newlyweds." I say.

"Well congratulations. I remember what it was like right after I got married. Liam and I went on holiday to Italy. It was marvelous, but you don't want to hear about that."  
I make the mistake of saying "Actually I'd love to hear." Because after I say it, Sarah regales us with at least an hour of storytelling about her time in Italy. We listen and occasionally Sean and I turn to each other and roll our eyes. It's obvious that other members of our group have heard the stories as well, but Sarah doesn't really care, she just wants someone to listen to her. It occurs to me that Sarah and Liam Mcgovern are probably having martial problems. In fact it seems that they don't even love each other at all. Like most women during this time period, Sarah most likely married Mr. Mcgovern for his money and possibly has never had any real feelings for him. My theory is backed up when, we are told by a woman sitting next to us, that they have been married for four years but have never had any children. I find this information sad because I can tell by listening to Sarah speak that she would make a great mother. I suppose she could just never bring herself to have children with him. I understand that. While Sarah is telling her stories Mr. Mcgovern is eyeing some woman from across the room and is not paying a speck of attention to his wife even though she clearly wants it. Sarah finishes a story about a man running naked through the Trevi Fountain and then says:  
"Well I think I've bored you enough with my stories." She laughed. "I would like to hear about you, Mr. and Mrs. Fentress. How did the two of you meet?" I was going to answer her but once again Sean beat me to the punch.

"We grew up in the same town and have gone to school together forever."

"So was it love at first sight?" she asks. I turn beat red. Suddenly I'm glad Sean decided to answer before me.

"No actually. We couldn't stand the sight of each other for a while, but about a year ago things started to change….." he trailed off, thinking, and for a moment I believe he's telling the truth until he spouts "We fell in love, simple as that. Now has everyone gotten the wine?" asks Sean, changing the subject.

"Wait I want to hear about the proposal!" Says a woman at the end of the table.

"Yes how did you ask this fine young lady to marry you." Asks her companion who I assume is her husband.

"Honey, do you want to take this one." Sean says. It's clear that Sean is done making things up so now it's my turn I say:

"Well it took a long time for him to convince me that he loved me…" I'm not very good at making up stories so I instead interjected with "But eventually he did and we got married."

"Oh come now. There must have been more to it than that. For me and Samantha it was the kiss."

"Oh yes." I interject. "It was the kiss for us too. He tried convincing me with flowers and showers of expensive gifts, but it was the kiss that sealed it."

"Well let's see it then." Says Mr. Mcgovern

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"Why don't you young people show us what a real kiss looks like."

"Sir, we're at the dinner table," says Sean, "don't you think it's inappropriate to…."

"I'm asking you to kiss her. Now kiss her man!"

I hardly get a moment to protest before his lips are on mine. The sensation is warm and inviting until I remember the person it's coming from and I immediately pull back, but he doesn't let me. He pulls me back in for a deeper kiss that takes me completely by surprise. A light bulb in the back of my mind is telling me stop, wait, this is a bad idea but I suppress this notion and continue to kiss Sean until I feel his tongue trace the bottom of my lip. The realization of what we've just done hits me and I push him away even though my entire being is begging me to continue. The entire table bursts into spontaneous applause and Mr. Mcgovern says:

"Well, I suppose you do love her Mr. Fentress."

"Yes he does. Would you please excuse me for a minute." I say while running out of there at full speed. I run to the stern of the ship, startling a few passengers in the process. Of course Sean follows me, and I only get a moment or two alone before he comes up behind me. My rage spews out of me before I can stop it.  
"YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO DO THAT!"

"Calm down, Liz, it was just a kiss."

"No, it wasn't just a kiss, it was you taking advantage of me."

"I wasn't trying to take advantage of you. I just, that guy drove me up the wall, he was taunting me, so I did the only thing I could do to shut him up. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." I say. "I was just surprised is all."

"I thought you were mad because of your boyfriend."

"My what?"

"Your boyfriend. Aren't you dating Sam Rooney?"

"Um no. Who told you that?"

"Everyone thinks that."

"Well everyone is wrong. Sam and I are just friends."

"Pft. Right."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"A guy and a girl are never just friends. There's always something more hidden right beneath the surface."

"Ugg you are so aggravating!"

"I may be aggravating but at least I'm not blind."

"I cannot have this conversation. I'm going back to the room."

"Wait but shouldn't we keep investigating…things?"

"Probably but all I want to do is lie down….Go to the bar. Have a few drinks. Investigate on your own. I'm going to bed."

"Fine I'll see you in the morning."

"Fine."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

She thought she was aggravating. Ugg I'm dying here. She is one of the most frustrating girls I've ever met. Fine. I will go have a drink, not because she recommended it, just because I need one. It doesn't take me long to find the bar. It's in the same first class lounge we found earlier today. I take my seat and order a scotch on the rocks, since that appears to be what everyone else is drinking, and I start to drown my sorrows. Soon, though, I am no longer alone. A middle-aged man with a younger mans' demeanor sits down next to me. I recognize him from dinner and force a smile in greeting, He responds:

"I'm sorry I don't mean to sound rude but are you quite alright? You seem rather put upon."

"I'm a little frustrated."

"If you don't mind my asking, why?"

"A girl."

"Ah of course." He says. "Women, they are the bane of our existence, but they are also what makes our existence worthwhile."

"True."

"What's the nature of your problem?"

"Its nothing specific. It's only that she's always gotten on my nerves, I'm not really sure why."

"I think you do."

"What do you mean?"

"With all do respect, sir, I've observed the two of you throughout the evening and from what I observed, I believe that you are in love with her."

"In love? Are you kidding me? She drives me insane!"

"But isn't that what love is. Love isn't easy and it isn't obvious either. It sneaks up on us when we're not prepared for it. That's is what happened with me. Her name was Lillian. She and I grew up together. We went to the same schools and we were always forced to spend time together but she and I hated each other, as much as any two people could. We disagreed on everything and we'd often have to be separated after five minutes of conversation. In our last year of schooling she had to move away because her Dad got a job in Pittsburg and I thought I would be happy to see her go, but after a while I realized I missed arguing with her. Soon, though it amounted to much more than that. Soon I realized I loved her. During that last year of schooling my parents wanted me to choose a wife and even though I could have had any girl I wanted, I only wanted her. With her gone I began to see all of her good qualities, the qualities I had refused to see when she was around. Against the wishes of my parents I set out to find her. I knew where she had moved because I asked the headmaster. But when I arrived there it was too late. When I got there she was already married. I was told this by some friends of hers that I met at the train depot and they told me her new address. I decided that I had to see her, I had come all this way, and I needed to at least tell her how I felt. I went to her new address, she answered the door and without either of us saying anything I knew she felt the same. She asked me to come inside and I sat in her parlor with her. Her husband was away on business so it was just her for a couple of days. We talked for hours but it felt like minutes. We caught each other up on everything we'd been doing for the past year. She told me about her husband and I told her about some mutual friends from our old school. I knew it was inappropriate for me to be there as long as I was but I couldn't bring myself to leave. She didn't seem to be in any hurry to kick me out either, but unfortunately I had to leave. On the way out she whispered that she had always loved me and that not telling me sooner would always be her greatest regret. I knew it would be mine too. I returned home and married two weeks later to a girl I barely knew from my class, but that my parents thoroughly approved of. What I'm trying to tell you boy is that the sooner you realize your feelings for her the better. You don't want to loose her like I lost my Lillian. Man up and tell her how you feel!"

"But Liz, she's impossible, she's.."

"Shush boy. Follow your heart. Its never wrong."

"But sir!" I said while turning around but while I did I noticed he had disappeared. No one else seemed to have noticed he was there because when I looked around the bar everyone was giving me a look like I was crazy, which I'm not! It was then I noticed how late it was and that I should probably leave. I walked out into the promenade deck and looked out over the ocean. No girl had ever given me this much trouble. Not to sound like an ass hole but most girls practically fell at my feet. I never had issues getting a date but I'd never had to deal with a girl like Liz before. Shit what is wrong with me! One minute I'm yelling at Liz at the top of my lungs and the next I'm kissing her? What the hell? Two months ago, heck, two days ago I never would have thought this could happen. Not just the whole getting stuck on doomed vessel thing but actually caring about Liz thing. She and I have always hated each other, or at least that's what I thought, but now I'm not so sure. I always thought she was kinda cool despite the fact she seems to think she's allergic to cool. She's one of those girls that really doesn't give a damn what other people think of her and that marches to her own beat. She's the kind of person you want to be friends with but are somewhat intimidated to talk to. The only person who really seems to have connected with her is her best friend Sam Mooney. He's not as weird as her but still pretty darn weird. He's had a crush on her forever and she's the only one not to have noticed, apparently. Its never bugged me before but now I feel absurdly jealous for reasons that are getting clearer by the second. Maybe that guy was right, maybe I do have feelings for her….No that's not possible. It's just this stupid ship. Once we get out of here things will get back to normal. Assuming we find a way out of here. We will. We have to. It's then I decide that I should probably return to the room. The more sleep I get the more energy I'll have to figure out how to fix this. Things will seem much clearer in the morning, I hope.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I woke up the following morning to the faint memory of a dream where a certain blonde-haired blue-eyed boy was kissing me fervently on the bow of Titanic. When I realized it must have been my subconscious replaying the famous scene from the movie, Titanic, my severe blush went down considerably. As much as I didn't want to leave this nice warm bed and talk to Sean I knew I had to. Today was the thirteenth of April, which meant that we had only two days before Titanic was going to sink. Sean and I needed to formulate a plan, fast, and we couldn't do that from our bedrooms. So on that thought I left my room and entered the enclosed promenade deck where breakfast was being served. Sean was already sitting there reading the paper in a robe and slippers and he gestured for me to sit down at the table across from him, as if I had another choice! The whole thing felt really husband and wifey which made me feel even more uncomfortable about last nights dream. Sean broke the ice by saying:

"Good morning sunshine. How did you sleep?"

"Fine, I guess, and you?"

"Fine." there was an awkward silence while we both grabbed the food we wanted that included looking up every few seconds as if to make sure it was okay for us to grab it.

"So I had an epiphany last night."

"Wow I'm surprised you even know what the word epiphany means." He glared at me then spoke, "As I was saying I had an epiphany."

"Really enlighten me." I interrupted. He glared again and continued with:

"Have you read slash seen Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I'm a nerd remember. I have read slash seen the entire series multiple times."

"Do you remember the scene where Harry writes in Tom Riddles diary and Tom responds to him?"

"Yes, I think I know where you're going with this. You think that if we write in the journal we might get a response from whoever wrote it.."

"And they might be able to tell us how to get back." He stated.

"It sounds crazy, but it's all we've got at this point. After breakfast meet me in the common room with the journal and a pen." I said.

"Kay." He responded. We quickly finished our breakfast, dressed and met in the common room. Sean gently placed the journal and a pen in front of me and looked at me with the obvious expectation that I would be the one to write in it.

"I don't want to do it."

"Well I sure as hell aren't doing it! I have messy handwriting, you should do it."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Where's yours?"

"Touche. Fine I'll do it give me the pen!" he handed me the pen and I quickly wrote on the first page of the journal:

Is there anyone there? Sean read it and scoffed "Seriously, that's all you could come up with?"

"Why don't you write then."

"I will!" he took the journal away from me and swiftly composed: who are you? And what do you want from us?

"Like that's much better."

"It is much better!" Sean and I got so caught up in our arguing that we barely noticed the script slowly progressing across the page:

Everything will be revealed in time.

-EM

"Who the hell is EM and what will be revealed in time?"

"I don't know. This is weird, Sean."

"What about this little adventure hasn't been weird."

"Good point. What do we do now?"

"I don't know but at least we know that it's the journal that brought us here."

"How do we know that?"

"The message, duh!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"You know what Liz you need to shut up and listen for once in your life! Don't you ever lighten up? Its like everything is life or death to you."

"This is life or death Sean. If we don't get off Titanic in two days…."

"I know. We die."

"Yes we do."

"But what if we could stop it?"

"What?"

"What if we told them what we knew from the future."

"No we can't change history, Sean, the disaster of the Titanic is the reason there are so many maritime passenger laws now. And who knows what else would get screwed up if we stopped it."

"Okay alright I hear ya."

"Good."

"Yeah good."

"You know what we should do today?"

"What?"

"We should finish our project."

"Oh my god! I completely forgot about the project what are we gonna do."

"Well considering we're on our project that should make it easier to finish right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't know how we'd explain our sources though." He laughed, then I said "What did you have in mind?"

"Lets do some exploring shall we?"

"Didn't we do some exploring yesterday?"

"Not the kind of exploring I do." And with that he took my hand grabbed my shawl and led me out of our room.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After an entire day of researching on the ship, Sean and I had just about finished our project. The only information we didn't have concerned the night of the sinking, and with any luck we wouldn't be here for that. We explored the ship gathering every ounce of information we could from any source that we could. What surprised me the most was how interested Sean seemed to be about the whole thing. He asked pretty much all the questions and he seemed to be genuinely interested in the answers. At one point during the day I said to him:

"You seem to be very passionate about this stuff."

"I love history, I'm going to be a historian one day you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Like one of those boring guys in a history documentary?"

"No, like one of those guys running around on a battle field on the history channel."

"I could totally see you doing that."

"Yeah, me too, but my dad wants me to get a basket ball scholarship."

"With all due respect, screw your dad. It's your life you should do what you want with it."

"That's true, but you don't know my dad. He'll go berserk if he thinks I've 'lost my dream.' " He says with air quotes.

"Well it's not your dream is it?"

"No, I guess not."

"Tell you what, we get out of here, and I'll make a case to your dad myself. I wanna be a lawyer one day, you could be my first real case."

"And I bet you'd win it."

"I dunno if your dad's anything like you we could be yelling for a long time."

"Well at least you wouldn't be yelling at me." I don't know why but for whatever reason that comment made me blush and I had to change the subject. By four o'clock we had just finished a conversation with captain E.J. Smith who told us about the system of water-tight bulkheads when Sean decided he wanted to take a spontaneous detour.

"Where are we going?"

"It's called a surprise for a reason Liz." He answered with his signature smug smirk.

"Come on just tell me! I hate surprise's."

"Yeah I'm starting to get that impression."

"Please."

"No."

"Please!"

"No!"

"Come on. We almost managed to get through an entire day without arguing. Let's not start now."

"Alright, but if you do something Sean-like."

"I'm not going to do anything Sean-like just trust me okay?" Its strange, if he had said that two days ago there's no way in hell I would have trusted him, but now, as I was looking into his beautiful blue eyes, I knew, somehow, that I could trust him, and I did. He turned me around and whispered into my ear:

"Close your eyes."

"Sean?"

"Trust me."

"Okay." I closed my eyes and I felt him place his hands on my shoulders. He slowly led me along with his hands placed delicately on my shoulders until I felt him pull me as a way of telling me to stop. I instinctively opened my eyes and this time I felt his lips touch my ear when he said.

"No peaking!"

"Sorry." My body then betrayed me with an involuntary shiver down my spine, which I knew he felt because his lips curled into a smile against my ear.

"Its just a little farther."

"Sure, for all I know you could be pushing me off the ship."

"I'm ignoring that. Okay now you have to put your hands on these rungs, like this." He took my hands and placed them on what I felt to be metal rungs. Another shiver.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You really don't understand the concept of a surprise do you."

"Fine, my hands are on the rungs, what next?"

"Just keep climbing, I'm right behind you."

"What if I fall?"

"You're not going to fall."

"But what if I do."

"I'll catch you. Don't worry you're going to be fine."

"Easy for you to say. You can see where we're going." What felt like a hundred steps later, he said:

"Just a few more steps, there, we're here."

"Can I open my eyes yet?"

"Not yet." He put his hands on my waist and with as much delicacy as he could muster he hoisted me onto what felt like another bar.

"Please, tell me it's not another ladder."

"It's not. Okay you can open your eyes now." The view before me was unlike anything I had ever seen before. We were high up, higher even then the captain's quarters'. You could see the entire bow of the ship and several miles of ocean stretched out before us. The sun was setting in a way that made the ocean glow with a yellow hue, flickering with the color of candlelight. No one could see us but we could see everyone. I felt like an eagle siting on top of the world.

"It's beautiful." I sighed, "Are we allowed to be up here?"

"The crew is having dinner right now, so, yeah, for another five minutes, at least." Sean climbed onto the bar behind me and slowly inched his face towards mine. I knew what he wanted to do, and for some reason my mind didn't want to stop him. Our lips were just barely touching when the trumpet for dinner started playing and we were startled apart. With a disappointed expression he led the way to the ladder, but grabbed my arm before descending and said:

"Keep thinking what you're thinking." But I couldn't do that. The moment had past, and as much as I wanted to grab him and kiss him I knew that that wasn't an option right now, maybe ever. As much as I wanted to deny it, something had happened between Sean and I tonight. I couldn't quite wrap my brain around it but it had, and I knew I would never be able to look at him the same way again. But I told myself I had to stop thinking about this for obvious reasons as I followed him down the ladder to our room.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Dinner that night was incredibly awkward. We ended up sitting with the same group of people we ate with the first night and they kept asking questions about our plans for the future. Sean was on a tangent about kids and preps schools and what have you, and I was thinking the entire time 'dear god help me.' I had almost kissed Sean. Sean Fentress. The kid that 48 hours ago I hated with every fiber of my being. What the hell was wrong with me! What was I thinking? Or I guess what was I not thinking. This couldn't happen. This messed up thing between us, whatever it was, it needed to end. If only I could stop thinking about the color of his eyes, and how it felt for them to be boring into mine, as if he could see into my soul. _No, Liz, snap out of it! The only thing you should be thinking about is how to get off this dammed ship! _Man was I in trouble. The worst part was, at the time, I had actually wanted him to. Kiss me I mean. Truth was, until last night, I had never been kissed. Sam and I tried it once when we were five, after we watched Titanic for the first time, ironically, but that's definitely not the same. I guess a part of me just wanted to get kissed. Regardless of who it was that actually kissed me. Yeah, that's it. It had nothing to do with the fact that his kiss had made me weak at the knees. I wish Sam were here. He'd know what to do for sure. He'd scold me and make me wash my mouth 50 times in the closest available sink, but he'd definitely help me out, and I could use all the help I could get right now. I'm startled out of my thoughts by my dinner companions simultaneously standing up and leaving the table, a signal that dinner is over. Everyone was giving me a strange look. This made sense given that I'd spent the entire meal staring at my plate. Surprisingly, though, Sean was the only person who didn't seem to notice. He smiled at our companions, excused us, placed an arm around my waist and guided me back to our room as if nothing was wrong. My irritation with this caused me to say:

"WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?"

"Me? What's the matter with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You spent all of dinner in a different world. You didn't speak once. That's so not like you."

"Since when do you know anything about me."

"Don't give me this crap, Liz. We've been going to school together since we were five I've had at least 30 classes with you. You really think we don't know anything about each other. And anyways even if that wasn't true we've had the last few days to get to know each other."

"You can't know someone after two days, Sean."

"Romeo and Juliet seemed to know each other pretty well after two days."

"Why are you comparing us to Romeo and Juliet first of all, they're fictional characters, second of all what do we have in common with them?"

"Come on, Liz, you know what."

"No, Sean, I don't know what, please, enlighten me."

"You're not really going to make me say it are you?"

"I asked you to didn't I?"

"I guess so. Fine I'll say it….I like you Liz."

"You what?"

"I like you. I have for a while actually."

"What the hell are you talking about."

"Oh come on, Liz, please don't make me say it again. You heard what I said, now use that unusually large brain of yours and figure it out." I pretended to think about it for a few minutes, and the look on his face, you'd think I was torturing him. I eventually responded with:

"But don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Seriously? I make this major confession to you, and all you have to say is don't you have a girlfriend?"

"But don't you?"

"No, truth be told I've never had a girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The closest I ever came was a girl I met at summer camp three years ago."

"But all those girls. Everyone at school thinks you're a womanizer."

"I am, but that doesn't mean I've had a ton of girlfriends."

"Right, that just means that you sleep around, which makes you even more despicable than I thought you were."

"I don't sleep around!"

"Right!"

"No really and I can change."

"What?"

"I can change. I would happily change for you."

"I don't believe that."

"Believe what you want but it's the truth."

"What makes you think I want you to change for me."

"Come on, Liz, stop trying to pretend that you don't have feelings for me. We almost kissed tonight, remember, in the crows nest. You wanted it, you know you did."

"Whatever you felt you must have projected it on to me because nothing happened!"

"Bullshit, you and I both know that's bullshit. Like it or not, you have feelings for me, you're just afraid to admit it. I bet it's because of that friend of yours Seth or Shane or whatever."

"His name is Sam, asshole, you knew that you just wanted to piss me off. And for your information he's gay. He and I have never had anything romantic between us."

"That's bullshit too."

"WHAT!"

"That's bullshit! Sam is so into you. You just don't want to admit it because it'll screw things up between you two."

"Now you're just delusional. Before we got here he was on his way to ask someone out a guy, a male."

"Oh really, who?"

"He never told me his name."

"Of course he didn't."

"He probably didn't tell me because the guy is probably pretty shy about it."

"Or he didn't tell you because he's secretly in love with you!"

"Ugg you're sooo infuriating. Just because I'm best friends with a guy you assume there must be something going on."

"There is something going on. You know it, and I know it, and he knows it so just admit it. You'll feel a lot better when you do."

"God! What is wrong with you! Do you live to drive me insane."

"Have you been paying attention, at all, to this conversation, cuz if you had, you would know the answer to that."

"I'm done discussing this! I'm done discussing anything with you. This, whatever this is, it's over, as of now, I'm ending it."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"Yeah, I guess, in a messed up way, I am."

"Fine."

'Fine."

"Goodnight."

"Yeah whatever." We both stormed into our rooms and then slammed the doors.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I couldn't believe what had just happened. First Sean and I had almost kissed in the crows nest of Titanic and then we had an argument that nearly resulted in one of us being tossed overboard. _When was this going to end? Would we be stuck here forever? God I hope not. I just want to go home. This whole thing is going to be the end of me for sure, no pun intended. _I was so frustrated with Sean and this situation and life in general that I only had the energy to get dressed for bed and go to sleep. That night my dreams consisted of Sean and I freezing to death in the Atlantic along with hundreds of others with absolutely no way to escape. I was completely exhausted but I knew that Sean and I needed to find a way off of this ship today or we would probably die. Even with our argument last night I knew he would agree, at least, with that. I dressed and came into the common room only to find a note sitting on the table with my name on it.

Liz

Going for a walk around the ship. See you at lunch.

-Sean

_Is he kidding me right now? In less then 24 hours we're going to die and he decides he wants to take a walk, seriously? I hope he knows that his disappearance could be the difference between life and death for us._ I sat down on the couch and decided that I probably couldn't leave this room until he got back. If I leave and he comes back there is definitely no way we're going to get off of here in one piece. So I came up with something that I could do while he was gone. I wrote about our experiences on Titanic. I wrote about our first day and how we got here and were completely frazzled and wigged out, how Sean decided to tell people that we were married. I wrote about the sheer magnitude of both scale and luxury we discovered on our first tour of the ship. I wrote about our first meal, about how delicious the food was and how Sean kissed me unexpectedly in the middle of it. I even wrote about the research day where we learned all we could about the ship and learned a few things about each other, I also, begrudgingly mentioned the almost kiss that took place in the crows nest. The only thing I didn't write about was our fight the previous night. I knew that it would always be ingrained in my memory so I didn't think it was worth describing. I wrote all of this in the black leather bound journal that may or may not be the cause of this entire adventure. I thought _what better place to document it then in the thing that brought us here in the first place_. That's when I noticed it. _EM. Elizabeth Mason_. _Me,_ I was the one who wrote the journal. The handwriting looked familiar because it was mine. I needed to tell Sean right away. I quickly slammed the journal and looked at the clock. 11:35 pm? That couldn't be possible. Sean was supposed to come back at lunch or at the very least he was supposed to come back for dinner. Clearly he hadn't because the clock still read 11:35. What the hell was going on, and that's when I felt it. A huge shutter that nearly knocked me off the couch. I knew exactly what had happened, and I definitely knew it was not good. Titanic had just hit the iceberg and in about 2 hours and 40 minutes it would be at the bottom of the Atlantic, and possibly Sean and I would be with it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I had to find him. I had to tell him what I knew. _Maybe once I tell him we'll get sent back_. I knew it was a long shot but it was all we had at this point. I stormed onto the first class deck looking every man in the eye that I passed. It was probably completely improper, but I was desperate. I walked almost all the way to the stern when I heard:

"Liz? Where the hell have you been? Did you feel the shutter?" says a frantic Sean who was coming up behind me.

"Yes, genius, I felt the shutter and where the hell have _you_ been?"

"I was at the bar with someone… it really doesn't matter. What is it? Tell me what's going on." I told him about the journal, and he gave me a look like he could murder me.

"You wrote the journal. YOU WROTE IT! Don't you think you could have mentioned this earlier. like maybe two days ago?"

"I didn't figure it out until now."

"Clearly, but wait how is that possible? The person who we wrote to in the journal? How could that have been you?"

"I don't know. It doesn't make sense, but that's not important right now, what's important is that in two hours Titanic is going to sink. We need a plan."

"Right a plan, let me think." But we barely get a chance to confer before a crews man announces: "Ladies and Gentlemen I need you to retrieve a life vest from one of the various attendants that you see around you, but don't worry I'm sure it is only a precaution. Also when you have returned all women and children are to be put in the lifeboats first, women and children only, no gentlemen just yet."

"But sir, my father is ill and he must stay in my care." Says a young woman standing behind us.

"I'm sorry young lady, but these are the Captains rules, now you may stay with your father, if you wish, but he cannot come with you on the lifeboat."

"But please!"

"No young lady, there will be no exceptions, women and children only." The woman then proceeded into a fit of hysterics and her father comforted her while escorting her over to the man with the life vests. Sean and I did the same and as we were helping each other into them he said:

"Liz, I need you to get on the life boat."

"What?"

"Get on the life boat. If only one of us can survive this, it should be you. No one cares about me back home."

"That's not true!"

"Liz, if something happened to you, I couldn't live with myself I just I…." but before he could continue I captured his lips in a kiss. I kissed him with all the passion I could muster. I kissed him as if it would be the last time and the first time. At first he was taken aback and he pulled away a bit, but once he figured out what I was doing he started to kiss me back with more passion than I ever thought possible. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and instead of freaking out and pulling away like I did the first time, I allowed it. We kissed for what felt like hours, and to my surprise I actually enjoyed it. He was the one who pulled away first, but not before kissing my nose, my eyelids, and again on the lips. My entire body was on fire, and I could tell that his was too.

"Okay, now I definitely can't let you go." I smiled and said:

"We started this thing together and that's exactly how we're going to finish it." I smile.

"Oh Shit!"  
"What, oh shit what?"

"The journal."

"What?"

"The journal, I left it in the suite. When I discovered that I wrote it I was in such a hurry to tell you, I forgot to grab it on my way out, it's still down there, Sean."  
"It's okay don't panic we'll get it." He said.

"Lady's and gents I'm sorry to inform you that access to your suites is no longer permitted. Captains orders."

"Sean."

"Its okay Liz. I can sneak down there, get to our room, smuggle out the journal. No one will even know that I left."

"But you can't it's too dangerous."

"I have to."

"I don't want you going down there alone." He shut me up with a kiss. It was a short kiss but I knew he meant it to be reassuring.

"It'll take five minutes. Just wait up here. I'll be back before you even know it."

"Sean."

"I know." He said as he pressed his forehead up against mine. Our actions speak volumes.

"Be careful." I said as he let go of my hands and proceeded to shove his way through the crowd. His absence allowed me to notice everything unfolding in front of me. There were tearful goodbyes going on all around me. Wives kissing their husbands, Children hugging their fathers. People of all ages, ethnicities and classes, all saying what was probably their final goodbyes to their loved ones. This was the untold story of Titanic. Most of what you hear consists of the size of ship or how many people died, but what most historians neglect to mention is who these people were. What they went through to get to where they were. A hundred years or so after a tragedy happens people only remember the cold hard facts. They forget that all those people mentioned in the fatality list were living and breathing at one point, the people standing before me now. I vow from this point forward to never again think of a tragedy as a mere grouping of statistics, to remember them as they were. The band starts to play a cherry tune and I can see fireworks glowing nearby. I start to cry but my train of thought is interrupted by the shouting of an officer in front of me.

"My lady please get into the life boat." I try to protest but am unceremoniously thrown into the lifeboat.

"Excuse me, sir, I didn't ask.."

"My lady we are only following orders." A feeling of dread falls over me as the lifeboat is slowly lowered into the icy Atlantic.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I panic, feeling as though I have lost all control. Sean. I need to get back on the ship. I need to get back to him. He's waiting for me. Think, Liz, think. The second-class deck. If I can get to the left side of the lifeboat I can jump onto the deck.

"Excuse me, pardon me." I say as I work my way over to the left side of the lifeboat.

"Miss? Miss what are you doing, Miss?" says the captain of the lifeboat. I don't let anyone say anything else to me. I hear someone call my name. I hesitate for a moment but when the deck is within range I muster all my strength and jump. I just barely get my hands onto the railing. As a man pulls me over he says.

"What on earth were you thinking, Miss. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Liz, Liz!" Says a very breathless and panicked Sean who runs up behind him. "I saw what you did? Are you out of your mind?" he says as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a bear hug.

"Maybe. I did promise you we would stick together didn't I?" he pulls away and puts his hands on my arms.

"Yeah, I guess you did, but what just happened there, that was crazy. You shouldn't have done that."

"Too late now."

"Liz, you have to promise me, no more crazy stunts like that, okay. If we have any shot of getting out of here we will lose it if you do something like that again, do you hear me."

"Yes."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

"Did you get the journal?"

"Yes, I got it."

"Thank god!" I say.

"What do we do now."

"Maybe if we both put our hands on it like before, we'll go back."

"Its worth a shot." We both put our hands in exactly the same spot as before and nothing happens.

"Damn." I whisper. We both turn around when we hear a huge creaking sound, the sound of thousands of tons of metal splitting.

"The ship is falling apart. We have to find our way to a life boat." Sean says.

"They won't let you get on it."

"Then we need to find one for you."

"I already told you, that is not an option."

"You are so stubborn."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Okay, okay lifeboat is not an option." We hear the breaking metal sound again. People start to scream in horror as the front half of the ship starts to flood.

"The ship is going down head first. We need to get to the stern now!"

"The stern's half a mile from here."

"That's our best chance of survival, it's the stern or the ocean you pick." I turn around and gulp as I see the flooding increase in speed.

"Alright run!" I shout. Sean grabs my hand and the two of us hightail it as fast as our legs can carry us. We're only halfway to the stern when we feel the deck starting to to tilt. At that moment Sean stops turns around and says:  
"Liz, in case we don't make it out of this."

"Sean."

"No listen." I pause. "In case we don't make it out of this. I just wanted you to know. I need you to know. I love you."

"What?"

"I, I love you." I am completely taken aback.

"You don't have to respond. I just wanted you to know." My brain can't formulate a response but my lips can. My lips find his in record time. Its amazing how no matter how many times you kiss someone it can still feel like the first time. My hands find his hair and I admire how soft and perfect it feels between my fingers. His hands travel to my waist and I am pushed against a bench. We both pull apart when the deck shutters.

"Come on we have to go." I say while trying to conceal my blushing.

"Right we'd better move."

Once again we are greeted with the sound of thousands of tons of metal breaking apart and this time it is happening right under our feet. Sean moves fast enough away that he is okay but to my horror I end up falling through the large crack. I start thinking this is it, this is the end of my life, but to my astonishment Sean manages to grab me right as the two haves of the ship separate. He pulls me up and this time I pull him into a bear hug. Thank you doesn't seen appropriate enough at this moment, but he still mutters, "You're welcome." Somehow we manage to run faster after that. It takes us half the time to get to the stern, and it's a good thing too because by the time we get there we have to pull ourselves onto the back of the ship because it is tilting at an 85 degree angle. People are falling off in every which direction and the ocean underneath us is getting closer and closer every second.

"Okay when we go under the water you need to push off the back of the ship as hard as you can. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Okay." He says. I'm shaking. "It'll be alright."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do." He says. "Don't let go of my hand." I say.

"I won't." The water is ten feet away. "This is it. Are you ready?"

"I don't think no is the appropriate answer so yes." He laughs. The water is upon us before I even get a chance to breathe, not that I could've held a breath, this water is frigid. Just as I am about to push off with all my strength Sean looses his grip on my hand. We are separated and I panic. When I surface I start shouting:

"Sean! Sean! Sean where are you?" there are thousands of people around me also screaming in vain to find a loved one they may never find. Some are praying to god. Others are repenting their sins. Some seem to have given up completely and are simply waiting. Waiting to die, waiting to live, who knows? The lifeboats are not far off, but they are just sitting there. Not one seems to feel the urge to come back. There must be thousands of people around me screaming for mercy and nothing happens. How can those people in the lifeboats just sit there? All of these innocent people. _God it's so cold I can't think. _I hear someone calling my name.

"Liz! Liz. I've been looking for you everywhere."

"You found me."

"Yeah thank god. Are you okay? Are you cold?"

"I'm fine, really I'm fine."

"It's cold."

"Its so cold."

"Quick, distract me. Tell me a story to get our minds off the cold."

"Okay do you remember the day we met?"

"Was it fifth grade? I vaguely remember you telling me I smelled funny and then running away."

"No it was before that."

"Was it in third grade when we dissected that owl pellet and you put all the gross parts on my desk as a prank."

"You seriously don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"The first day of kindergarten. In the sand box?"

"No it doesn't ring a bell."

"The first day of kindergarten. I asked you to be my girlfriend and you said yes."

"Oh my god, I can't believe you remember that."

"It was during recess we were both by ourselves. You were standing at the end of the school yard and I was in the sandbox making sandcastles."

"You got out of the sandbox, you came over to me and invited me to make sandcastles with you."

"When we started working on the first one, I grabbed your hand."

"You looked me in the eye."

"And I asked you to be my girlfriend."

"And I accepted. Yes I remember."

"Of course it only lasted about five minutes cuz then Sam showed up and he taught you how to play hopscotch."

"Wow that was so long ago."

"I still remember it like it was yesterday. I scolded myself so many times after that."

"Why."

"For not trying to become friends with you back then. I had the kindergarten mentality of well if she wants to be his friend then she can't be my friend."

"You could have been my friend."

"I tried, in third grade with the owl pellet, in forth grade and fifth grade, too. By sixth grade I had almost mustered the courage to talk to you but then…"

"Then you met Troy."

"Yeah I met Troy."

"And then there was Rebecca, the first of your conquests."

"I only kissed her cuz Troy dared me to. She thought we were going out. It took me a month to convince her that we weren't but by then the whole school thought we were and I couldn't correct them without losing my reputation."

"And Sean the god was born."

"You thought I was a god." I blushed.

"No you thought you were a god. And so did half the girls at our school."

"You know I never cared about any of that stuff."

"I do now." I shivered.

"You're cold. Here take my jacket."

"No, you need it more than I do. I'm fine really." Sean gave me a concerned look but then continued with his story.

"After the thing with Rebecca the whole school thought I was popular, but I didn't care. All I wanted was you. All I've ever wanted is you. I think I started arguing with you because I knew I couldn't talk to you in any other way. You were disgusted with me, or at least I thought you were."

"I was never disgusted with you. I was just confused. One minute you were the guy who asked me to be his girlfriend in the sandbox and the next you were the guy who was giving me his gross owl pellet parts. I didn't know what to make of you, I still don't"

"You're right. You're so right. I've been giving you mixed signals. I should have just told you. And now we are stuck here, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and we're probably going to die."

"Way to look on the bright side."

"Well where is the bright side in this situation."

"The bright side is at least you got to tell me now. Even if we do die at least you got to tell me all of this first."

"Yeah that's really cheery."

"This is no time for sarcasm, Sean."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry."

"Sean your lips are blue."

"So are yours."

"God it's so cold!"

"I thought we were trying to stop thinking about it."

"It's kinda hard not to think about it."

"Well now it's your turn to distract me."

"I don't have anything to say."

"I just poured my heart out to you and you're saying you have nothing to say."

"Fine, I might have something to say."

'Well say it."

"I've had a crush on you since 9th grade."

"Really."

"Yeah. In middle school you were really popular with all the girls and I couldn't stand you for that, but when you came back to school for 9th grade it was like you were this completely different person. You were still a self-centered jock but you were attractive and smart and completely out of the realm of possibility for me. I guess I wanted what I couldn't have. I hid it well. Not even Sam knew, and he knows everything, but I didn't want to tell you and end up being humiliated so instead I argued with you. I made everyone think I hated you while instead I was arguing with you for the sake of getting to talk to you. Of course I didn't realize it until tonight. I think I've liked you much longer than I believed."

"I had no idea."

"I know."

"I wish I had."

"Me to." He flinched.

"Sean."

"It's nothing I just feel a little woozy."

"Here put your head on my shoulder. I can hold you up." He didn't protest. He wrapped his arms around me and laid his head on my shoulder. Somehow it felt right being this close to him, holding him up and giving him the support he needed. It didn't take long for our conversation to deteriorate. Hypothermia was getting to both of us. If we didn't get out of this water soon we would die. Sean and I were holding each other, talking about nonsensical things and then he just stopped. The steady warmth of his breath on my shoulder was gone and I could no longer feel his muscles tensing against me, which was a reassuring sign that he was still alive. I shook him several times hoping he would wake up.

"Sean, Sean? Sean! Wake up! Sean wake up! Sean you can't go! You can't. I love you."

I just said it. I said it because I meant it. I said because I needed him to say it back. I needed him to say anything just so that I would know he was okay.

"I love you, come back. Please come back!" I cried. "Come back, please!" I begged. And then everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

In the same moment Sean is dying in my arms I close my eyes to find my world completely changed, again. We are once again in the library with both of our hands intertwined on the journal that started it all. Without a second thought I pull my hand away and spout the words:

"We never speak of this, it never happened." And I ran out of the Library with I love you still hanging on my lips.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Hey I was starting to worry about you, where were you?" Sam said as I climbed into his car outside the school. I had completely forgotten I had texted him to pick me up after I finished the project with Sean. I only remembered when I saw his car waiting for me at the curb.

"Sorry, we got sidetracked, the project took longer than expected."

"That's fine I just wish you had told me, I've been waiting out here for ten minutes."

"I'm sorry did you have to cut your date short?"

"No, I chickened out at the last minute. I ended up picking up an extra shift at work and then killing time at my house so that I could come pick you up."

"I'm sorry you had to do that."

"Its fine, I got great tips. And since when do you care about inconveniencing me. You've been doing it ever since I got this car. You'd do it for me if I asked you."

"I know. I think spending all this time with Sean may have actually driven me insane. I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Okay are you sure. Cuz we could go stop for ice cream or something if you want?"

"No, lets just go home. It's late and I think my parents might blow a fuse if I stay out any longer."

"Okay. Are you sure you're okay? He didn't hurt you or anything did he? Cuz you know I'd be willing to sick some of our more buff and courageous friends on him if it was necessary."

I laugh "I'm fine, really, lets just go home so I can take a shower and wash the scent of this horrible day off of me."

"Okay sounds good." Sam says, "Coming right up." About ten minutes of awkward silence later, Sam drops me off, I unlock my front door and sneak up the stairs knowing that no matter what I do my dreams will be filled with him tonight.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next day at school it seems as if nothing has changed. Sam picks me up for school, as usual. We make small talk, as usual. We arrive in the senior parking lot absurdly early, as usual. But when we step into the main entrance I know that something has changed. I immediately spot Sean and his buddies tossing around a basketball and laughing, as usual, but what I don't see is the stupid grin he is usually wearing proudly on his face. What I see is a look of torture that I can only describe as heartbreak. I've come to realize that despite my so-called "hatred" of Sean I had kept tabs on him over the years, and I also realized that I had never seen him like this. He has broken up with too many girls to count and sometimes he seems a little upset about it but never for more than a few days and it never affects how he acts around others. This, I can see, is real physical pain, and I know that I was the one that caused it. Neither of us can ever mention the reason why. When he spots me he lights up a little but only long enough to remember that he can't talk to me here. I almost think that he might commit social suicide to come over, but I know he won't. Nothings changed, I think. _Not true _says a nagging voice in the back of my head. _Everything's changed. Yeah, _I answer. _But not for the better. _This is when I discover the whole school is watching us. At that moment you could hear a pin drop. No one understands what's going on and no one ever will. Whatever happened in that library, it doesn't matter now. What matters is that I'm a nerd and he's a jock and our worlds can't coexist. Not now, not ever. No matter how much we both want them to. Besides we're graduating in a month. Even if we wanted to start something it would have to end when we went our separate ways in the fall. _Yes. Whatever happened between us then, it means nothing now. It's over. Now if only my heart would listen to my brain. _The bell rings and with that the spell is broken. We go back to our lives as if nothing has changed. Sean and I do our presentation that Friday with zero interaction before or after, just like everyone expected. My life turns into a game of going through the motions. One day to the next blending into each other to the point where I don't even know when one day ends and another begins. I am startled out of my lull by Sam saying:

"Okay, what the hell happened in the library? You have to tell me."

"You wouldn't believe me if I did."

"Try me."

"No, it's out of the question. Can we talk about something else please?"

"Sure. Are you going to the prom?"

"The what?"

"The Prom only the most important day of our lives? Remember, that prom?"

"Right, the prom. Nope definitely not."

"What, you have to go!"

"Why?"

"It's a right of passage everyone goes even the social rejects."

"Are you saying I'm a social reject?"

"No, I'm saying that everyone goes to the prom."

"But I don't even have a date. It would be super lame to show up to my prom without a date."

"I'll be your date."

"But what about GSA guy."

"I'd rather take my best friend."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thank you!"

"Of course, on one condition. You have to tell me what happened in that library."

"Nope."

"Oh, come on, please?"

"Nope."

"Fine pick you up at eight?"

"Fine."

"Fine. see you then. Oh and try and find something decent to wear."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It's hopeless, I have scowered the whole frigging town and I still haven't found a dress. Everything else is in order. Sam bought the tickets, I've ordered Sam's boutonniere, we've rented a limo with our friends and we've made dinner reservations. Everything else is ready to go but I don't have a dress. How can I go to the prom without a dress? It's the Friday night before prom and I'm considering throwing in the towel when my mom walks into the living room carrying a garment bag.

"I know you asked me not to interfere with your dance plans but I know you don't have a dress and I might have a solution for you." she unzips the garment bag and reveals the most elegant dress I have ever seen it's white with an empire waist intricate floral beading that could only have been done by hand and with a v-neck and lace that was probably also made by hand. It's timeless while also being classic. The dress is exactly what I wanted and I had no idea what I wanted until just now.

"Mom, it's perfect." I sigh.

"It was your great grandmothers wedding dress. She was married to your great grandfather for over sixty years. I thought it might bring you luck. Go try it on go." She says.

"Thank you." I say. I'm not sure what I would've done if it didn't fit me but luckily it fit me perfectly. There was one minor sewing adjustment Mom said she could have finished by tomorrow night, but other than that I was ready to go. I already had the perfect shoes and accessories so all that was left was actually going to the dance. Before I knew it the big night was upon me and I was in a panic. What if the dress didn't fit right or my shoes are the wrong size or I lost one of my earrings. Everything is there and I am dressed long before Sam even arrives at our house. Something feels wrong about tonight, I'm not quite sure what it is but I have a hunch. Sam and I pose for pictures in front of the fireplace, I present him with his boutonniere and he gives me his corsage. We are soon finished with pictures and my parents usher us out the door so that we can make our reservation. I don't remember much of anything from the limo ride or the dinner that occurred after the limo ride but I do when we first arrived at the dance. I physically try to force myself not to look for him but I can't help it. My eyes search the room and land on him almost instantly. He's not hard to spot, high fiveing his jock buddies, laughing with the blonde of the week who I believe is named Amanda or Elaina or something. She's got her hand on his arm and is whispering something into his ear, which makes him boom with laughter. He looks so happy it hurts to watch. I don't even realize Sam is watching me until he clears his throat next to me.

"Oh sorry its these damn lights they're making my eyes water." I say

"I wasn't born yesterday, Liz."

"I would hope not cuz if you were you would have a lot of explaining to do."

He ignores my last comment and says, "I'm not stupid, Liz, I know something happened between you two that night in the library. It's so obvious you're pining for him."

"I'm not pining I'm just… looking."

"Stop denying it. Look at me and tell me you don't have feelings for him."

"I can't." I admit.

"Then you need to talk to him."

"Sam, we are graduating in two weeks. What's the point now?"

"The point is you're in love with him and you owe it to yourself and to him to tell him how you feel. If he doesn't feel the same way, then in two weeks you'll never have to see him again. There's no way you can lose with this."

"But he's here with a date."

"Stop making excuses. Go over there and talk to him. Don't make me drag your butt over there."

"Fine I'm going." I say. I walk over to him as slowly as humanly possible, it's likely if there was a snail on the dance floor it would have lapped me. When I finally come up on him he's in the middle of a conversation with the blonde girl. I tap his shoulder, he turns around and he smirks at me. He actually has the nerve to smirk at me.

"Liz." He says, unemotionally." What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you." I say.

"Oh now you want to talk."

"Yes."

"Well I'm sorry, you'll have to come back later. I'm on a date."

"It won't take more than two minutes of your time I swear."

"Fine, but make it quick I promised Anna the next dance." His entire group turns around and looks at me. "Go on." Sean prods. "Speak."

"Can we speak in private?"

"You never said it had to be private."

"Well I'm saying it now, please?"

"Fine, you're down to one minute and 45 seconds." He says as I pull him outside onto the padio.

"I need to tell you something, and you're probably gonna think it's really stupid and you're going to laugh in my face but I have to say it anyway. Okay here it goes. I love you. I'm in love with you. I don't know what happened in that library two months ago but it was probably the best thing that could've ever happened to me. I fell in love with you and I needed to tell you before we graduate and never see each other again." He's speechless. He doesn't say a word.

"Say something." I plead.

"Anything if only goodbye." He gives me a puzzled look and then he walks back into the gym. I don't know what to think. I must have hurt him more than I thought or else he was lying to me the whole time about loving me. I've lost all coherent thought. I sit against the brick wall behind me and start to cry, really cry. I don't care about my makeup or my dress, all I care about is that the first boy I've ever loved doesn't love me back. I sob for what feels like hours until I hear the gym door creek open next to me. Sean walks out a little disheveled but no worse for the wear and plops down next to me. He turns towards me and says:

"Why are you crying?"

"Why am I crying? Are you serious with that right now?"

"Yes I'm serious. Why are you crying?"

"You rejected me. You left me out here when I bared my soul to you, and you ask me why am I crying?"

"I didn't reject you."

"Yes you did. You walked away."

"That doesn't mean I rejected you it means I left for a few minutes to do something."

"You thought that was the appropriate moment to go do something?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"I broke up with Anna." I turned to him with teary eyes and asked. "You broke up with Anna?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" he asks.

"I won't believe it until you say it. You have to say it."

"Elizabeth Marie Mason. I love you. I'm in love with you. Would you please be my girlfriend?"

"Yes!" I say without hesitation and with that he kissed me and I kissed him back.


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

Sean and I are sitting underneath the oak tree in my front yard in our caps and gowns. Graduation is in two hours and we wanted to see each other before the ceremony. We've been dating for two months and it's been going pretty well. We have our disagreements like any couple, but we love each other and that's all that really matters.

"Liz?"

"Uh huh."

"Remember when I told you that I was going to Penn State because of my dad?"

"Well, you didn't say exactly that, but yeah, I remember."

"I applied to U Conn also."

"You did? Did you get in." I say innocently

"Yeah I'm enrolled for fall 2012."

"Did you tell your Dad?"

"Yeah, I had a long talk with him about it and he said that all he wanted was for me to be happy and if U Conn would make me happy then I should go there."

"That's great, Sean I'm so happy for you."

"You know U Conn was originally my dream school because of their awesome history program, but I did some research and it turns out they have a great basketball team, too. So, if I wanted to, I could do both."

"You don't have to, you know."

"I know, but I think I want to."

"Well, that's great!"

"Thank you I think so, too. You know U Conn is only an hour and fifteen minutes away from Yale."

"You know, I did know that."

"So you might have encouraged me to go there for that reason?"

"And because it has both of the programs you're interested in."

"Right, you love me, just admit it."

"I already have." He starts attacking me with a shower of kisses until Sam interrupts with:

"Liz, Sean, lets go we have to go graduate." Sean and I look at each other, he grabs my hand, and we run towards Sam's car and our very bright future.


End file.
